Long before All the Pretty Horses was ready for release, rumors began circulating that Billy Bob Thornton's original cut was four hours long and that the final version had been subjected to savage edits by the studio to bring it under two hours. In recent interviews, however, Thornton has dispelled these rumors. He was contractually obligated to deliver a movie no longer than two hours or risk the loss of final cut privileges. Early on, he did indeed show studio executives an assembly cut of three hours and fifteen minutes, but assembly cuts are typically very rough and contain excess footage. From this screening, rumors sprang.